Eddie rolls the dice for England

Interesting, very interesting.

I am referring, of course, to the latest England squad selection by Eddie Jones.

“Experimental” is the word that comes to mind – with a couple of players in there that I have barely even heard of – Leicester hooker Nic Dolly and Northampton fullback Tommy Freeman spring to mind – while several established players remain absent from the squad.

Of these, the likes of Jamie George, George Ford, Ben Earl and Dan Robson can, I think, count themselves really quite unfortunate, whilst the recent form of the Vunipola brothers also appears to have been ignored (although I would agree they both still have some ground to make up on their rivals in their respective positions). 

That said, there is some exciting talent in this squad and certainly if there was a time for experimenting and freshening up the squad – both in terms of players and coaches – then it is now. Personally I am looking forward to see how Marcus Smith goes in a full-blown international match, for instance, and also hope we see the likes of Adam Radwan and Alex Dombrandt strutting their stuff in what looks like a far pacier England team than we have witnessed in recent years.

If a handful can establish themselves as bona fide international players this autumn, then Eddie will be in an enviable position come the 2022 Six Nations, when a number of the more established players are also likely to be pushing for a recall. I hope he has got it right, but I guess he always as the stalwarts to fall back on if it all goes a bit pear-shaped.

The squad selection also throws a bit of a curve ball when it comes to the Premiership. Saracens, for example, may have expected to have been without several players during November whereas in reality they will ‘only’ be missing Itoje, Farrell and Malins, leaving them pretty damned strong for Premiership games. Leicester, meanwhile, who have started the season so well, lose five to the squad. It will be educational to see what effect this might have.

Total Flanker – the older I get, the better I was